<p>I realize that taking notes in class facilitates the process greatly, as most students can type much faster than they can write. Disregarding obvious laptop distractions such as AIM, Facebook, etc..., do you think taking notes by hand or laptop is "healthier"? Personally, I've found that laptops seem to make me mentally fatigued, and I can somehow think better by writing out notes, but I don't know for certain.</p>
<p>I like writing notes by hand.</p>
<p>Hardly anyone at my college takes notes by laptop (except in CS classes). Part of the reason might be that taking notes by laptop is quite disruptive in small classrooms, and I am attending a small college with an average class size of 16 students.</p>
<p>by hand! you'll remember everything so much better!
i take most of my notes by hand and rarely ever read them again, but it helps to make the info stick from the start. i only type out notes in lectures if it's really boring and i need my laptop to stay awake :)</p>
<p>Hmm. My friend took notes on her laptop, as did most of the kids in her Government class. She had this cool program that would record the lecture to complement her notes.</p>
<p>my classes are mostly too small to really use a laptop.</p>
<p>Write in blood--shows the professor how dedicated you are. Girls have a natural advantage in this aspect.</p>
<p>Not in college yet...incoming freshie... but I took nearly all of my notes on my laptop in high school (everyone 5th grade and up has a laptop). Even in one of my classes that was only 7 people - so long as it was a lecture day rather than discussion.</p>
<p>I can't imagine not typing them. I actually remember them better when I type them anyway.</p>
<p>I think that typing is pretty disruptive. It's easier to write notes out so that you can draw diagrams and things of that sort.</p>
<p>I don't see a reason to type them out. I rather buy notebook paper and pens and write them instead of using paper and ink cartridges to print them out. Besides, how many times has someone asked you if they could see the notes you just took--would you really want to hand over your laptop?</p>
<p>Most people I know take notes by hand. To me, hand-written notes are easier to refer to, plus I can lay them all out and look at them simultaneously without having to scroll up and down on a computer screen (or waste ink/money in the comp labs printing them all out). I also write little notes in the margins to remind myself of things, and I like to draw arrows connecting ideas, and often my teachers will give us diagrams on the board/powerpoint that are simply easier to draw than go through the hassle of drawing up a chart in excel.</p>
<p>I absolutely hate writing notes by hand. Taking the time to write notes by hand is extremely distracting and causes me to get behind in the lecture. By typing notes I'm able to keep up and actually be able to read my notes. However, it is important not to type things verbatum, as rewriting things will have you remmeber things better.</p>
<p>As for the printing things out or scrolling on a screen...I don't get it. I have a personal wiki set up and I absolutely love being able to organize my life and keep track of everything without digging through a bunch of papers. Further more, being able to access your notes anywhere in the world is a definite plus.</p>
<p>As for being a distraction...I will admit i'm not in college yet, but I did take a few notes in English 102 (a distance learning class) that had only about 14 people. I guess if your keyboard is really loud it could be a little distracting, but nobody is really going to notice it over the talk of a teacher. </p>
<p>Now, the diagrams and what not, I'm going to be getting a special mouse to draw with, so that isn't a big deal.</p>
<p>I guess the reason I'm so fond of typewritten notes is that computers are a passion of mine, paper feels very inconvenient and disorganized to me, and I have the tools set up already to affectively take notes digitally without ever printing them out or anything.</p>
<p>EDIT: By the way, for those of you who have classes where taking notes in a more visual form is usefull, try using the free program known as freemind. I haven't used it for class notes, but I used it organize notes for my research paper and it is absolutely great. I can easily take my notes, keep track of which items came from what source by color coding them, and then move and copy the items around to organize them into a paper. It is a "bazillion" times more usefull than your typical note cards because you can actually view everything at once and move things around easily without taking up a whole gym floor.</p>
<p>EDIT2:
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Besides, how many times has someone asked you if they could see the notes you just took--would you really want to hand over your laptop?
[/quote]
All I have to do is give them the username and password for the guest account I have for my wiki and they can go ahead and view all my notes if I so wish. I can even colloborate with other students for projects or notes using my wiki and we don't even need to be in the same place. :)</p>
<p>yea with computer i just type what i see and zone out. when i write i think about them so i can shorten what i write down because my hands hurt.</p>
<p>
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I guess if your keyboard is really loud it could be a little distracting, but nobody is really going to notice it over the talk of a teacher.
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</p>
<p>They do, and it is.</p>
<p>Also, if you do decide to try and take notes on your laptop, please don't be like this dude in my Intro MechE class by sitting there all class and failing at making a single platform jump in Air Man's stage on an emulator.</p>
<p>
[quote]
yea with computer i just type what i see and zone out. when i write i think about them so i can shorten what i write down because my hands hurt.
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To each his own then.
I completely zone out when hand writing. It's as if the material just passes through my head to the paper, without a thought. Doesn't happen when typing though.</p>
<p>Also consider that some notes are too tedious to take on a laptop...hard to write Ochem equations or engineering problems on a laptop.</p>
<p>I find it easier to remember stuff when I write by hand. But I type faster with my laptop. Ya, it is difficult to type some equations I figure. I never figured my typing speed though :)</p>
<p>When I'm in a class like history where it's all words I use my laptop, and if it's anything else that involves numbers and symbols I'll do it by hand. I buy a composition notebook for each class and put the notes in that, helps me stay organized.</p>
<p>I'm not in college yet... but I prefer taking notes by hand. I remember them better that way. And I hate the clack-clack-clack of my keyboard. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if I had short fingernails... but, I don't have short nails.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also consider that some notes are too tedious to take on a laptop...hard to write Ochem equations or engineering problems on a laptop.
[/quote]
You would be surprised by how many people took notes by laptop in math and physics at my former college. TeX is quite useful once you know it well enough to type fast.</p>
<p>Handwriting forces me to pick out the most important info in order to keep up. I type very quickly, so when I try to type notes, I just end up writing down everything and overwhelming myself. It might be an easier process if I typed, but it's more effective for me to handwrite. I also type really loudly, so I'd drive everyone else insane.</p>
<p>The important thing is simply to figure out what works best for you. To each his own.</p>